


Everything Changes

by RaeMWakefield



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Implied Sexual Content, Love Confessions, M/M, Secret Relationship, Sexual Confusion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-13
Updated: 2013-03-10
Packaged: 2017-11-29 03:52:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/682448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaeMWakefield/pseuds/RaeMWakefield
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis Tomlinson knew that it wasn’t right searching his ‘bromance’ on the web with his best mate in the next room. He knew that it wasn’t right to spend more than an hour looking at so-called evidence. He bloody knew that it wasn’t right to suddenly have these feelings for a particular curly-haired boy. But he did, and Louis Tomlinson knew that he was fucked.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Secret Tumblr

**Author's Note:**

> This is mostly Larry. Give it a chance, yeah? :) slightly cliche but it's okay.

Louis practically passed out on the sofa as soon as he and Harry got home form some sort of press release that they had to do for One Direction. It took a lot more out of the older lad than he had particularly expected. He didn’t realized how wrecked he was until they got into the band’s van, and passed out on his best mate’s shoulder. He was tired to be honest, and he rather that he didn’t move for the next century. However, his curly-haired companion had other ideas. Harry chuckled lightly at the boy that was currently sprawled out onto their sofa in the living room of their high-end, much too big for two people, flat.  
Harry, being Harry, walked over to pick up Louis’ feet before dropping them to the ground. Louis groaned in protest, but the younger lad just smiled, more like smirked, to himself. He was satisfied with himself, getting comfortable in the spot that Louis’ feet had previously occupied. He reached for the remote before switching on the teley. Louis reluctantly sat up from his position, and glared at Harry. He grumbled to himself, making slight facial expressions and gestures before actually turning to Harry himself. Harry pretended to seem interested in whatever he was watching before Louis tugged the remote out of the boy’s hand.  
“I was watching that,” Harry argued.  
“I was also lying here, but someone decided to be a twat,” Louis stated, crossing his arms.  
Harry barked out laughter.  
“It’s not my fault that you took up the whole sofa.”  
“You could have let me be.” Louis argued.  
The younger boy sighed.  
“Would it make you feel better if I cooked for us tonight?”  
“Don’t you always?”  
“That’s besides the point, Lou.” Harry rolled his emerald eyes. “You look spent,”  
“I am,” Louis ran his hands over his face. “It’s been a long day,”  
“Long night last night?” Harry smirked playfully in at his best friend.  
Louis scoffed.  
“As if you would know,” Louis retorted. “You were out practically half the night,”  
“Erm…sorry?” Harry laughed, a smile tugging at his lips.  
“’S okay,”  
But it wasn’t, not really. Louis was annoyed that Harry came in around four in the morning. Of course Louis didn’t say anything, he never did. He was just lying down in his own bed, silently waiting for the boy. Louis himself had ended his night with Eleanor by at least mid-night, and went back to their flat to find it surprisingly empty. He worried about the younger lad when he didn’t text him back about his whereabouts. It took Louis another hour to realize that Harry had left his mobile back in between their sofa cushions. It made Louis more than annoyed with the boy.  
Harry didn’t saw anymore on the matter. If Louis said that it was fine, then it was fine. He would take his word for it. Instead of arguing over what to watch, the boy stood up to head into the direction of the kitchen. He had decided that maybe starting dinner a little bit earlier than usual would be better before his best mate fell asleep standing up. Louis didn’t question him but rolled his eyes before turning toward his bedroom up the stairs. His nap time had been ruined, so the lad decided to do some twitter stalking.  
Louis grabbed the macbook, and logged in before he pulled up twitter. Reading fans questions was probably one of the best parts of the crazy life he got to live. He didn’t get to respond to all of the tweets or follow everyone that he would have loved to, but he did enjoy them. There were numerous ones that had been links to tumblr. Louis laughed to himself. Tumblr was a dangerous place for any Directioner, especially an actual One Direction member, but sometimes he couldn’t help himself. It was addicting, more so than he would admit out loud. In fact, it embarrassed him to even admit that he had been on the website. However, the search history would betray him.  
After an hour of stalking the different One Direction tags to see what fans were posting, Louis found himself in one particular tag; Larry Stylinson. He didn’t really know how it happened. Maybe a few mis-clicks here and there, but he ended up in the tag. The oldest boy in the band furrowed his brows as he started to scroll through the different post more than he realized that he should have. The first few pictures were innocent enough. They were just him and Harry. The pictures looked normal, and made Louis smile in fond memory. It was interesting how invested the fans were in their bromance.  
Then came the gritty stuff. Louis was a little confused at first. He didn’t know what exactly it was. He figured it was the fan-fiction he and the boys had previously talked about. He knew that it was there, but he had never really experienced the fan-fics in themselves. He had never taken the time out of his overly-busy day to actually read one of them. It was absurd, he wouldn’t have done it, but Louis was damn curious. He saw the pairings. He was very much aware that he was in these writings with his best friend, whom was just down the stairs.  
“Oh my God…” Louis spoke to himself, eyes glued to the screen in front of him. He had found one fan-fic that really struck his interest. It was something about Harry committing suicide, and him being all lonely and slowly going crazy. The man himself started to tear up in just the first few paragraphs. The situation was weird; yes, but the writing was beautiful. He was amazed at how well the author worked the words to where it flowed. By the time he finished, he was a mess of tears. Realizing that it was time to leave the world that he recently discovered behind; he closed the tab. But not before saving it under another name on his favorites bar, just on the off chance that Harry decided to take a peak at his laptop.

§•§•§

Louis was at it again. He didn’t mean to, that’s what he kept telling himself, but he couldn’t stay away. Tumblr was like a drug. He knew that he shouldn’t be on it, yet he didn’t have the will-power to stop. Once he read more than one of these “one-shots” he had to keep going. He had then stumbled upon actual stories. They were marvelous too. Intriguing, suspense-filled, and even down-right filthy works were posted. The Doncaster lad couldn’t get enough. He rather enjoyed reading about what fans fantasized he did with Harry. He couldn’t help feeling slightly excited in the lower region for whatever reason. He wasn’t exactly ready to face that reality.  
As the secret obsession with tumblr and fan-fiction increased, his time with Harry slowly started to dwindle. Not only his time with his best mate, but the time spend with his girl had went down to. Louis was pushing dates back to later times because he just had to finish the latest chapter or he needed to reblog something interesting. Yes, Louis had sunken to that point. The boy had made his own blog, following his ‘bromance’ tag, and started to reblog a few things. Of course it wasn’t his-his blog. He was simply posing as another Larry fan within the popular website.  
Louis was in the middle of a very…colorful post when a loud knock sounded on his door. In a panic, Louis slammed his laptop shut. The boy clumsily jumped off of the bed in time to reach his bedroom door before Harry, he assumed, could knock again. He thanked God that he was wearing joggers instead of his usual chinos. He flung it open, and sure enough the boy was standing there. He wore his casual smirk that suddenly had Louis’ heart beating. He tried to convince himself that he was just over-worked from the tumblr post. Louis forced a smile to his lips, and looked at Harry.  
“Hey stranger,” Harry playfully stated.  
“Uh…hi?” Louis asked, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. “Sup?”  
Harry nearly laughed at his best friend before moving into the bedroom to sit down on the bed, right next to Louis’ laptop. In momentary panic, the boy moved back to his bed quickly, taking the stop where the laptop once set. The older lad made sure to keep it out of reach of the younger boy. Harry furrowed his brows at his best friend before he finally let another smile break onto his features. Louis suddenly wished that he hadn’t read those posts about his non-existent sex life with Harry. He offered a friendly smile back at him.  
“So…you’ve been in here a lot.”  
“Yeah…”  
“And I miss my best mate.”  
“I’m right here, Haz.” Louis argued.  
“Yes, but we never spend time together anymore.” Harry interjected. “I was thinking…  
Louis sighed.  
“Yes?” Louis interrupted, but Harry continued like he hadn’t heard him.  
“…that we should go out for drinks with the lads tonight!” Harry broke into a wide grin.  
“I don’t know, Harry. I was rather busy.”  
“Doing what?” He boy questioned.  
Louis panicked again.  
“Nothing!”  
Harry’s eyebrow rose.  
“You’re busy…doing nothing?”  
“Correct,”  
“How is that even possible?” Harry chuckled. “Come on, Lou. It will be fun!”  
“I’m not so sure that I’m really ready to deal with Zayn and Liam just yet.”  
Harry winced.  
“Come on, Boo…” He trailed off. “They won’t be that bad.”  
“Speak for yourself,” Louis grimaced. “You didn’t see them,”  
“Stop being dramatic and get yourself dressed up. We’re going out whether you like it or not.” Harry instructed. He patted Louis’ knee twice before gripping it lightly. Louis will deny his breath getting caught by the simple action. Again, he blamed the damn fan-fictions for his reaction. “Besides, you could use it.”  
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Louis called, but it was already too late, Harry had retreated back down the stairs to get ready himself.

§•§•§

“Lou, are you alright?” Zayn yelled from across the table.  
Louis jumped at his name being called before looking up at the Bradford boy.  
“Huh?”  
Zayn shared a look with Liam before they both turned back toward one of their best mates.  
“He asked if you were alright,” Liam repeated for his other half. “Are you okay?”  
“I’m fine,” He answer automatically.  
“Really? You seem out of it,” Zayn added. “Did you and Harry have some falling out?”  
Louis barked out a small laugh.  
“What on earth are you talking about?”  
“You two have been acting different,” Liam filled in. “Normally you’re the one out there making a fool of yourself with Harry. Why are you still here?”  
“If you want to snog, all you have to do is ask me to leave,” Louis yelled across the table.  
Liam laughed, and shook his head at the eldest member.  
“Stop avoiding the question,” Liam lightly scolded.  
“No, we didn’t have a falling out,” Louis sighed. “I’m just not really up for it tonight, ya know.”  
“I guess,” Liam shrugged. “I’m just hear to make sure you idiots don’t make fools of yourself,”  
“We’re ever thankful, Liam,” A new voice came.  
That voice belonged to Harry. He was smirking over at his friends before he sat down with Niall in tow. Once the group was together, Zayn ordered them all drinks, excluding the boy tucked closely to him. Louis silently envied their relationship. His own relationship, with Eleanor, never seemed up to par compared to Zayn and Liam’s. It made him do a lot of second-guessing. He would admit that part of the second guessing had to do with the Larry tag too. Even a ton of his fans didn’t believe him when he said that he loved Eleanor. According to them; their relationship is too staged. They even gave her the nick-name The Beard.  
“I think I’m going to head on out,” Louis sighed.  
“What?” Niall asked loudly.  
“Come on, Lou!” Harry protested.  
“Are you sure?” Liam asked, ever the sincerity loaded in his voice.  
“Yeah, I am,” Louis replied, standing up.  
“I’ll see you out,” Zayn offered, walking side by side with one of his best mates to make sure they got out in one piece. Once they did, Louis took in a deep breath of London air. “Louis…”  
“Lay off it, Zayn.” Louis sighed.  
“Is something bothering you?”  
“Slightly, yeah,” Louis admitted.  
“You would tell me, or Harry, if it was something major…right?” The dark-haired boy questioned, leaving Louis to just nod.  
“Yeah…’Course,” Louis shrugged before heading back to the flat that he shared with the tipsy boy he left back in the club.  
Louis knew that something was very wrong. He never left the party early unless it was for something important. Sure, since dating Eleanor had been a little difficult to go out with the lads, but that never stopped him from having a good time. Eleanor herself was quite the party animal. They could go out with the lads together, and have fun. It took Louis a minute to realize that he hadn’t properly spoken to the girl in a day. That was rather unusual, even if he was busy. Louis always found time for Eleanor. As he made his way back to his flat, he vowed to himself to call her first thing in the morning and make a date. He could use her company, and he honestly missed her.  
Much like he had a few days prior, Louis passed out right on the sofa. He let his body get used to the cushions underneath his body. He let out a content sigh before letting his eyes droop closed. His peace and quite didn’t last very long for Harry stumbled into the flat not only fifteen minutes after he did. Harry mumbled an apology for making him go out when he clearly didn’t want to. Louis rolled his eyes and sat up. He offered to make them some tea, and Harry gave him a droopy smile.  
Without having to be told to, Harry climbed up the stairs to Louis’ bedroom to make himself comfortable whilst Louis made their drinks. He tore off the plain white t-shirt and his skin-tight jeans in exchange for a loose pair of Louis’ basketball shorts. He went ahead and climbed into the older boys’ bed. Harry’s foot hit something, and he furrowed his brows. He reached down at his feet, and picked up Louis’ laptop. Curiosity got the better of him, and he flipped it open. He knew Louis’ password by heart, thus making his breaking in not hard whatsoever. His eyes widened on what had been pulled up on the screen.  
Harry wasn’t that drunk. He only had a few beers. He simply had enough in him for him to be tipsy. He realized that Louis was miserable, and felt obligated to come back to the flat where his best mate was. Harry just wanted to spend some bonding time with Louis, but the boy had other plans. Now Harry got a little glimpse as to why he had been acting strange lately. It was currently staring him in the face. It was dirty, and raw. Somehow, Harry couldn’t really look away. Louis had been spending his time doing this. It confused Harry. Louis certainly wasn’t in love with him, was he? Or was he just curious about the world of tumblr? The second guess made much more sense in Harry’s brain. Harry himself had been interested on the matter.  
Before Harry could read anymore, footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs. The boy quickly closed the laptop, and put it back down at the bottom of his feet. Harry tried his best to look normal as his best friend entered his room with two cups of hot, tea prepared just the way that they liked it. Louis handed over Harry’s with a smile, and all Harry could think about was sex. He had just read about sex with his best mate. This was the same best mate that was now undressing to get into the bed with him. Harry flushed a little red, unable to take his eyes off of the boy.  
Louis’ blue eyes flickered over to the green orbs that were Harry’s eyes for a brief moment. They started to slowly drink some tea, never breaking eye contact. For some odd reason, Harry felt more connected to Louis. He knew something about Louis that no one else in the world did. Sure, Harry had a lot of those moments, but he couldn’t help that this one felt more special. It wasn’t like the two actually have had sex before, that was just absurd; unheard of. Before Harry could really register what he was doing, he picked up Louis’ left hand into his own. The older boy watched him earnestly. It took all but a second before his own lips were grazing his best friends. The kiss was small, nothing that hadn’t happened before.  
“Haz?” Louis questioned.  
“Hmm?” Harry hummed, paying attention to both Louis’ hand and his tea as opposed to the small kiss they just shared.  
“Have you ever been on tumblr?”  
“No…” Harry lied.  
“Do you know about fan-fiction?”  
“I’m aware of erm…what it is.” He stated.  
“Want to read some with me?” Louis asked, feeling rather bold in the moment.  
Harry just nodded encouragingly.

§•§•§

Louis didn’t know what the outcome of reading the Larry fics with Harry would be. He certainly didn’t expect anything to happen. He assumed that the two could laugh it off, maybe show the boy that he wasn’t crazy. He just thanked his lucky stars that his tumblr account wasn’t currently logged in when he pulled up the screen. That would have been majorly embarrassing. However, he didn’t think that Harry would take it so…well.  
At first he started him off with the less-physical ones. Harry seemed to laugh at the cute ones. He even pointed out a few times of things that he would actually say. It was odd, that was for sure. He didn’t see that they would be able to do this. Louis suddenly didn’t feel quite as weird about reading it as before he did. Harry seemed to rather enjoy the fics himself.  
Louis couldn’t have imagined that reading a few steamy fan-fics would have ended up with him pinning Harry Styles down underneath him. It happened rather fast. At first they were reading some really explicit shower scene then they were playfully tickling each other until Harry got the guts he had been praying for from the second that he started reading the fan-fics without Louis’ permission. His lips just surged forward, and met Louis’. The snog was messy. Their teeth clashed way too much, and the tongues were being over-generous. But that didn’t stop their last articles of clothing from ‘falling off’ of their bodies.  
Breathless and sweaty, Harry looked over at Louis. Louis looked like he was concentrating on the shapes above his head. The ceiling had no particular pattern to it, but Louis needed a distraction. Harry wasn’t going to be the one to distract him this time, he was the reason that Louis desperately needed one. He didn’t want to really do that with Harry. They were just mucking about. Nothing really serious happened beforehand that would foreshadow the events that went down.  
“I don’t think that was a good idea,” Louis finally spoke, turning toward an equally as breathless Harry.  
“What do you mean?” Harry questioned. “The sex or…”  
Louis smacked his best friend with his pillow.  
“Which one do you think, you prat.”  
“Right…well…” Harry trailed off. “This is rather awkward.”  
“Tell me about it,” Louis rolled his eyes.  
“It’s rather hard to take the walk of shame out of your room and down the stairs. It’s not like we live in different places,” Harry reasoned.  
Louis sighed, sitting up from his horizontal position.  
“There are so many things wrong with that sentence.” Louis complained. “I’m going to shower now,”  
“Care if I join?” Harry asked with that familiar smirk that used to focus on girls.  
“Oh no, not going to happen, Styles.” Louis stated thoughtfully before grabbing some fresh clothes. “Get dressed will ya?”  
“You like the view!” Harry called as Louis walked out of his bedroom, and toward the bathroom.  
Harry laid back on his arms, and stared up at the ceiling. So many words and thoughts ran through his head, but he couldn’t really come up with something about what had taken place. The only real thing he could say is that he felt less uptight. He wasn’t tense, and he felt downright amazing. Harry laughed to himself. His best mate, Louis, was the cause to all of that. Louis the boy he had trusted with his life, and someone he had just shagged. It was all weird, really, but comforting at the same time.  
And it all happened because of fucking tumblr. Go figure.

§•§•§

“Where are you heading?” Harry asked casually from the couch, watching some show.  
“Out with El,” Louis mumbled, tugging his TOMS onto his feet.  
“Oh,” Harry sighed, standing up and walking toward the kitchen instead. “What time will you be back?”  
Louis chewed on his bottom lip.  
“Don’t wait up,” Louis called before making his way out of their flat.  
The previous night had made their friendship a mess, Louis knew that much. The first warning sign that something was changing should have been the light kiss or hand holding that Harry did. However, that was normal for them. The light kisses didn’t happen often, they were rare, but the hand-holding happened more casually. Then actually reading tumblr with his best mate? That was a little careless, Louis realized. If he ever wanted them to be the same again, the tumblr stuff had to stop. He felt dirty as he walked to his car to meet his beautiful girlfriend for some afternoon bonding time.  
The pair walked around London. They went shopping for a little whilst, holding hands, and looking well…like a couple that they were. Eleanor dragged him toward some coffee shop, and Louis smiled. He rather enjoyed the adorable girl. She was fun, and much like him. They got along rather well. That’s why they had been together for all this time. Ten months is a long time for a couple under their circumstances. They considered themselves lucky. He couldn’t believe that some people called her a beard. The thought simply made him laugh. On the other hand, he understood why people ‘shipped’ him and Harry so hard.  
“Lou, are you alright?” Eleanor finally asked as the two were sitting down and waiting for their tea.  
“Huh?” He snapped out of his daze to look over at the girl.  
She placed her hand over his, and smiled at him slightly.  
“Are you okay?”  
“Everything’s fine babe,” Louis promised.  
But it wasn’t fine. He was beginning to freak out. It had just occurred to Louis that he and Harry had sex the previous night. He was inside his best friend. How weird was that? Sex wasn’t supposed to be that filthy. It wasn’t supposed to be that loud, and aggressive, but it was. Louis had enjoyed himself more than he would actually admit. Now he was feeling rather guilty. This girl didn’t deserve that. She should have been the one withering underneath him, not Harry. She should have been the one making him feel that way, and not his best friend.  
“Are you sure?” She furrowed her perfectly manicured brows together. “You’re barely talking. It’s worrying me.”  
Louis slid an easy smile onto his features.  
“I’m fine, love, really,” He promised, picking up her hand and kissing it for good measure. The smile that broke over his girlfriend’s face made him feel sick to his stomach. He knew that he shouldn’t have let things go as far as they did the previous night. Louis knew that it was a bad idea. His body, however, had other ideas. It was like it was silently craving Harry’s touch for everything the curly-haired boy did drove him insane. He begged Harry more than once. Louis was baffled by it. He never begged.  
“So there’s a new club that I have been dying to check out…” Eleanor trailed off.  
Louis smiled over at the girl.  
“El, would you like to go to it with me?”  
The brown-headed girl nodded her head, and smiled over at him.  
“You’re the best boyfriend, Lou.” She stated.  
Louis wanted to die then and there. The guilt became even worse.  
He didn’t change from his current outfit, deeming himself dapper enough for his new club. He drove his lovely girlfriend back to her dorm room that she was currently living in. He waited like a wonderful boyfriend that he was pretending to be whilst she got dressed. He approved of the mini-dress she decided to wear. He rather liked her long legs.  
The club was crawling with life. People were dancing, and the drinks were flowing. Louis, however, couldn’t keep his mind there. He was silently wondering what his best mate was doing back at their flat. He didn’t care that Eleanor was drinking more than normal, or that she found a pack of friends that she wanted to dance with. He didn’t care. He sat by the bar, ordering himself a non-alcoholic drink. That was a first for him. He usually was the life of the party. Even the night before he had a little something to drink, but tonight, he didn’t feel up to it.  
Louis found Eleanor an hour or so later. She wasn’t compeletly pissed, but she was well on her way. He told her and he wanted to go, but the brunette girl didn’t want to. Her friends from Uni promised to get the girl back safely. Louis nodded, giving her a parting kiss before turning around to leave. He made it back to his car in one piece. He didn’t know why the feelings started to slowly come up, but they were. The lad only wanted to be back at his flat, cuddling maybe, with his Curly.

§•§•§

“I thought that you were going to be later,” Harry sighed as soon as the blonde left their flat.  
Louis’ cheeks were still blazing red when he walked in on Harry and some unknown blonde snogging each other senselessly on his sofa. It was rather a heartbreaking site to be honest. He didn’t expect the boy to be home. Louis hoped that he would, but he was shocked to find the girl pressed up against the taller boy. She was embarrassed and apologized a thousand times before she was actually out of the flat for the night, and hopefully for good.  
Louis collapsed onto the now-dirty sofa. He couldn’t help but scrunch up his nose to the fact that the half-naked girl was there just a few moments ago. Harry ran his hands threw his wild curls, and sat down beside Louis. He didn’t sit too close, in fear of upsetting the older lad. They sat there for a minute or so before Louis sighed. He had had enough of the silence.  
“Eleanor was having more fun than I was.” He admitted. “We went to that new club downtown, and she was getting smashed.”  
“Why aren’t you?” Harry asked quickly.  
“Because I didn’t want to actually go, Curly,” He spoke. “Is that excuse enough?”  
Harry shrugged.  
“I suppose.” He answered slowly. “Want to talk about it?”  
“Christ, Harry…” Louis trailed off. “I can’t even sit on this couch right now,” He admitted, standing up.  
“Why?”  
“How many times have I told you not to bring randoms back to the flat?”  
Harry blushed.  
“I dunno…”  
“Harry.” Louis said pointedly. “Honestly, I feel too much like an adult right now.”  
“Louis…” Harry trailed off. “Come here,”  
Louis crossed his arms and sighed.  
“Why?”  
“Let me make it up to you,”  
And Louis let him. He moved back over to the younger boy on the couch. He wasn’t still for a minute before their lips were tangled back with each other’s yet again. Their clothes were thrown somewhere across the living room, and bodies meshing together effortlessly. The sweat built along with the pure passionate heat between the pair. It wasn’t fully until Louis collapsed on top of Harry’s sweating body that he realized something. Lying on the sofa on top of a naked and blessed-out Harry brought Louis to a realization. He was completely and utterly fucked.


	2. The Beard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louis Tomlinson knew that it wasn’t right searching his ‘bromance’ on the web with his best mate in the next room. He knew that it wasn’t right to spend more than an hour looking at so-called evidence. He bloody knew that it wasn’t right to suddenly have these feelings for a particular curly-haired boy. But he did, and Louis Tomlinson knew that he was fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part two is here. I'm not too sure how many there are going to be. <3

“isleptwithharry,”  
The simply sentence fell from Louis’ mouth quickly and without pause. The words were rushed and he was sure that his cheeks were burning more by the second. He certainly didn’t mean to say the words. It just fell from his mouth. Louis was nervous. He had been on edge since his first night with Harry. Something big had changed in the Styles-Tomlinson household.  
The green-eyes, curly haired lad had been in his every thought. He was just always at the forefront of Louis’ mind. It never failed. Even when Louis was trying to have a nice outing with Eleanor, Harry was his main focus. It was slowly starting to eat away at Louis. He couldn’t focus on the girl for more than five minutes without his mind going off in Harry-Land. That’s what Louis decided to call it by the way; Harry Land. It was the part of his brain that had currently been filled with the boy.  
Liam simply stared, gaping openly at Louis. He pulled together his caterpillar eyebrows. The most sensible member of the band didn’t say anything for a while. He just simply stared at Louis, something that made Louis more nervous as the minutes passed. The two were meant to have a “Lilo” day, but thus far it had been hard to just sit together and watch the football game.  
The boy finally ran a hand through his course, perfectly styled, brown hair as he broke his stare from Louis. Louis let out a breath that he didn’t realize that he had been holding the entire time. Then Liam’s kind, puppy-like eyes made contact with his own blue. Louis wanted to disappear. Liam wasn’t judging him, no, but he was giving him that look. Louis was currently on the receiving end of one of Liam’s infamous stares. He just knew what was running through your head, and he would give the boys that look.  
“That’s…uh…nice?”  
“Li, I just told you that I slept with my best friend in the entire world and all you say is ‘that’s nice’? Are you high?”  
Liam chuckled at his friend.  
“It’s a lot to take in, that’s all.”  
“Yeah, no kidding,” Louis retorted. “Is this normal? To freak out over shagging someone?”  
“It depends, mate.” Liam offered a kind smile. “It was Harry,”  
“Girls are never this much trouble.” Louis mumbled under his breath, but Liam had caught what he said anything.  
“I know that they aren’t. I had no idea what I was getting into with Zayn. I figured that being with a bloke would be easier than it actually is, ya know? But not Zayn. He’s crazy, and way into his hair and his looks.”  
“But you wouldn’t trade him right?”  
“Not for the world,” Liam admitted, a loving smile gracing his lips. It was silent for a few moments before the younger boy spoke. “Have you told El yet?”  
Louis blushed again. He wanted to tell Eleanor, really, he did. He just couldn’t…not yet. She was his girlfriend of ten months, nearly eleven. He simply couldn’t break out the same ‘I slept with Harry’ card he had pulled with Liam. It wasn’t something that you just break to your girlfriend. He had to think of her when he so clearly didn’t when he was with his best mate.  
Eleanor meant too much to him for him to treat her as he was. She deserved someone so much better than him. The girl deserved the world. She was sweet and funny. She was…nearly perfect for Louis in all aspect but one; Eleanor was not Harry Styles. The green-eyed charmer had an effect on him that no one else could. That scared him senseless. The younger boy shouldn’t have such a hold as he did, but Louis simply couldn’t deny him. It was impossible. All Harry had to do was connect his green eyes to Louis’ blue and the older would cave.  
“No,” Louis sighed. “How can I? People made such big deals over her being a fake girlfriend. I can’t just spring that on her,”  
“You’re going to have to tell her sometime, Lou.”  
“I’d rather not.” He admitted.  
Things had been so good between them. He was head-over-heels in love with Eleanor, and had been for a while. It freaked the boy out that he shagged his best mate four times so far, and suddenly everything wasn’t so perfect anymore. Louis wanted to laugh bitterly. Of course they wouldn’t be perfect. He had sex with Harry. He was bloody in him for crying out loud. Louis silently blamed tumblr for all of his problems. However, the twenty-year old knew that it wasn’t exactly right to do that. He just should have stayed away. It made him question his feelings for Eleanor, his friendship with Harry, and his sexuality. In all honesty, he was going mad.  
Louis was never one to care what others thought about him. He simply acted the way that he wanted to without so much as a second glance to those who seemed to care too much. He knew that he was sassy; he didn’t care what others thought. Louis found it funny that he was deemed the “Sassasaurous” of the band. He laughed when he heard it, and couldn’t stop himself from thinking just how true it was.  
Now he was questioning it all. He had been feeling things that a heterosexual male should not toward the curly-haired boy. This was all new to him. One Direction knew that Harry wasn’t exactly, one hundred percent into girls. He was okay with sexuality. People just assumed that he was straight, when in fact he wasn’t. Harry enjoyed bating for both teams. Louis wished that he could blame it all on someone else, but at the end of the day, it was his problem. It wasn’t Harry’s, it was Louis’. He had to figure out the next step, because it was his mess that he had made.  
“Lou, how do you feel about Haz?” Liam asked lightly. He gripped Louis’ hand softly for a moment. Liam was seriously one of the most wonderful people to have walked into Louis’ life. He made sure to tell the taller man that often. Liam wasn’t insecure, but a little reassuring doesn’t hurt anyone. He was someone that Louis knew that he could trust. Sure, he could trust Zayn and Niall both, but Niall and Zayn were currently hanging out with Harry. Plus, as soon as Niall knows the whole world does to. Zayn was better at keeping things quite, but he could easily get it from his boyfriend.  
Louis shrugged. He wasn’t all that sure. He just knew that something was there. Harry was his best mate, he did care. As far as caring went; Louis knew that he wouldn’t be able to handle it if something bad happened to the younger lad.  
“I don’t know to be honest.” Louis answered, and he didn’t.

♪•§•♪

Louis had always been a good boyfriend. He made sure to share enough kisses to make anyone rightfully sick at the cute site. He made sure that the girl he was with felt loved. He made sure that he was listening to every word that they told him. He was sure to lose every row, if there ever was one. He pampered his girlfriends just to make them feel special. He wanted them to know that he was there for them and only them. Louis Tomlinson was the perfect gentleman. He held doors for the girl of his fancy, and he never let them pay. Even if they offered, he would happily decline because the date was about her. She was the main focus.  
That’s why it was so unnerving to him while he spent more time with his current girlfriend. They had ordered a pizza back at his shared flat, but it felt too awkward from him. Louis kept squirming on the couch. He couldn’t pay attention to the film with the girl currently tucked up underneath his arm. He was far too focused on what really happened on that couch a week prior, and more than once he might add. The dirty thoughts were trying to set free in his mind, but the British man willed them back. He couldn’t think of such things while his girlfriend was curled up to his side watching some film that he had already forgotten the title of.  
He sighed in a deep breath of relief the moment that Eleanor suggested that they made a quick run to Starbucks. Louis leapt up from the couch with such quickness that caused Eleanor to stare at him a minute. He just shrugged, leaving the girl in a cute giggle, giggles that no longer made Louis want to make her laugh. He just pulled a smile on his face, offered her his hand, and walked out of the front door as Harry was walking back in. Louis wanted to die at the smirk that was on Harry’s face as he lead some random into their home. Louis wanted to scold the younger man, and his very male friend, but he didn’t. He let his girlfriend lead him out of the flat, and toward the nearest Starbucks.  
Eleanor chatted on about Uni, fashion, and some girlfriends of hers while Louis let little nods and sounds escape him, but he didn’t really have a reaction. He was tired, and wanted nothing more than to go back to his flat and sleep. Louis had been having some restless nights ever since the Harry fiasco happened. His mind wondered, and he felt a little more lost each day that past. If Louis was honest, he was drowning. He didn’t know his left from his right anymore than a baby knew right from wrong.  
“Yeah?” Louis questioned when he felt the familiar tug of his girlfriend’s hand.  
“You’re doing it again, love.” Eleanor stated, bringing up her hand to lightly cup Louis’ cheek. “Are you sure that you’re okay? Have the boys been working you too hard? Do you need a break? Lou, love, you look like you haven’t slept in a fortnight.” She lightly laughed, but her voice was laced with concern. Louis automatically frowned. Again, he didn’t mean to worry the brown-headed girl standing in front of him. She meant more to him, and he wanted to honestly make sure that she was always happy. Above all else, the girl was his friend first. She meant a ton to him.  
“I’m sorry, El.” He apologized. “I’ve been doing that a lot, yeah?”  
Eleanor nodded her head slowly.  
“Louis, you could use some sleep.”  
“I feel like I could,” He agreed with her.  
“Since Harry brought a friend back, do you want to come over to mine? My bed is smaller, but it’s at least a place to rest.”  
“I wouldn’t want to interrupt Harry and his…friend.”  
“Yeah,” She laughed, looking at Louis. Louis wasn’t laughing with her, and she slowly stopped laughing. A small smile still graced her lips though, and she thought about the sentence more carefully than she had before. “Oh…oh! Oh my…I hope we didn’t…ya know…kill the mood.”  
Louis rolled his eyes slightly.  
“Harry is always in the mood.” The boy retorted bitterly.  
The girl before him gave him another curious glance before nodding toward the exit. He smile and graciously followed his generous girlfriend. When they entered her small flat that she moved into for the small break she hand before returning in the fall. He practically passed out on her bed, making the girl giggle again. She slipped off her own shoes before slipping up onto the bed with him. The boy moved his head to her lap and sighed when she started to run her fingers through his hair. It wasn’t long before his eyes slipped closed.  
Louis woke up with Eleanor’s gentle laughter resounded in the small space. His eyes slowly started to open, and he saw his girlfriend smiling at the teley, watching some program. He stretched his arms, and went in for a slow kiss. Eleanor laughed lightly, pushing him away. He wrinkled his nose before pressing more, slightly sloppy kisses all over her face. Finally the girl sighed, and let Louis kiss her properly. It was one of their nicest moments that they have had in a while. They were rather enjoying themselves.  
It was when the kisses started to turn into a full-blown snog. Louis was getting ahead of himself, and he very much didn’t want to return back to the flat where Harry was a little busy at the moment. He was sure that the man that had walked into the flat would be staying for a few hours, knowing Harry. The thought itself made bile rise up in his throat so much so that he had to pull away from the slightly breathless girl underneath him. She looked confused when Louis turned toward her bathroom, just in case. The boy didn’t throw up instantaneously as he thought he would, but his limbs became shaky. The gross feeling washed over him, and he felt utterly defenseless.  
Eleanor was at his side in a matter of seconds. She kept asking his questions as he hunched over the toilet. He kept taking in deep breaths in hopes of pushing the negative reaction his body seemed to be having from a simple thought. She rubbed his back softly, and tried to push his hair out of his face. Louis attempted a smile, but it came out more of a grimace than anything else. It was all he could muster her at the moment, because he knew that if he attempted to speak then something bad would happen. Then the thoughts of his and Harry’s adventures flashed through his mind, and his cheeks tinted pink. He suddenly felt sick again, and so he puked. Nothing but gross acidic fluids came from his body. It only took once for him to throw up. He moved to the sink to clean his mouth off, using the mouth wash.  
Eleanor was mumbling questions at him again, but his focus was again on the boy that was his best mate. He cursed him over and over again in his head. He couldn’t focus on what his girlfriend was speaking to him at the moment. He just knew that she was talking. He knew that he should at least try to pay attention, but it was so hard to. He needed to make her listen to him, he was desperate. Louis needed to explain himself.  
“El, calm down,” He stated, but his voice sounded weak. The girl, however, didn’t stop shooting questions at him. “Eleanor…babe…” Again, the girl kept asking him how long he had felt sick. She questioned if he had come down with a virus, or if it was a simple cold. She questioned him about what had suddenly brought it on, and in Louis fragile state, he could take anymore. “I fucked Harry,” He stated.  
Eleanor stopped talking as quickly as she had begun. She started at him, mouth opening and closing much like Liam’s had. She looked like a fish in his opinion. She didn’t say anything else, but she stared at him, looking for another explanation. Louis couldn’t give her one so he just shrugged.  
“I fucked Harry,” He repeated.  
“I…what?” She breathed. “You did what?”  
Louis struggled to stand, putting his weight on his hand to lean against the sink.  
“Harry and I shagged, El.” He sighed.  
“I heard you,” She stated, looking more broken than before. “When did this happen? How did this happen?”  
Louis chewed on his lip. The words flooded from his mouth easier than he expected. They rushed up much like the puke that was now in the toilet. Louis reached over to flush it before he took his place back against the sink. Eleanor stayed perfectly still, staring at his every move. The girl let the hurt show all over her face. She didn’t expect that kind of confession to come from her boyfriend’s mouth. She genuinely thought that he had been sick and exhausted. She couldn’t fathom this would happen. Louis was straight. They would laugh at the Larry rumors together. So why was his just now springing this on her?  
“This wasn’t how I wanted to tell you,” He admitted, barely above a whisper. “I just…I couldn’t keep it from coming up.” He paused but she didn’t say anything else. It took Louis a minute to realize that she was waiting for an explanation. He slowly moved toward her bed. Once he sat down, he made a patting motion for her to follow. Slowly, she agreed and sat down beside him but not too close. “I wish I could tell you what really brought it on, but it just sort of happened. One minute we were joking around and the next we were all over each other. I just…I couldn’t stop, El. I couldn’t tell Harry that things were going too far. It was weird.  
“That’s why I’ve been distracted honestly. I can’t help but feel bad about what happened, but I’m not sure why. I’m confused, really. I don’t know why I even allowed us to kiss. I’m not sure why Harry has affected me so profusely. He’s been in the forefront of my mind since then, El. I can’t sleep. I can’t think, and I certainly can’t be in the same room with him for more than half an hour without wanting to snog him senseless.” Louis finished. Louis finally looked over at the girl who was chewing at her bottom lip. She wasn’t looking right at him, but she did left her face toward him. He just sucked in a breath, and patiently waited for the girl to speak. She didn’t say anything for a while. She just nodded slightly before speaking again.  
“Do…you have feelings for him?” She spoke slowly. Louis squeezed his eyes shut, and let out a shaky breath. He didn’t say a word, but allowed his head to slowly move. He couldn’t bare to admit the words out-loud. Beside him, the girl simply reached over to grip his hand in her own. Louis let it happen. It was the very least that he owed her. They were in a relationship for a while. It was a good relationship, and a fun one at that. “I reckon I should have seen this coming.”  
Louis’ eyes opened, and he turned to look at the girl oddly.  
“What do you mean?”  
“I have watched you two in interviews and the way that you move around each other. I thought that it was the fans just getting to me, but it wasn’t really. I got offended when fans called me a beard. I got angry that sometimes you would rather spend time with Harry than with myself. It’s obvious to anyone who is looking, Lou.” She paused, squeezing his hand again. “I was just selfish enough to want to keep you to myself.”  
“I don’t want to break-up,” Louis spoke quickly.  
It was true, the man didn’t want to let Eleanor go. He wanted to keep the girl around. He wanted to have her there for him. She was someone that he could definitely trust in a world where it was rather hard to trust anyone at all. She was someone that Louis let into his heart and his world. He couldn’t loose the girl. He just wanted Harry just as much as he wanted to keep the girl. It wasn’t fair to either of them, but if Louis was honest, could he and Harry really have a future? It seems impossible.  
“I can’t be with you, Lou.” She sighed. “I thought that you would understand that.”  
“I don’t want to loose you…” He trailed off. “Call me selfish, but I do love you Eleanor.”  
Eleanor wrapped her arms around his neck, and nuzzled her head into his neck.  
“I can’t be with you knowing that you have been with Harry,” She whispered softly.  
“El…” He trailed off. “Maybe…we could be friends? You could be my beard.” Louis tried to joke.  
The girl pulled back from him, and smiled softly. Louis felt his nerves come back. He didn’t really want to hear what the girl had to say. He didn’t want to let go of her. Sitting on the bed with her like that made him focus on her. He wanted to tug the girl closer, and take back every word that he spoke to her within the last ten minutes.  
“I can’t Lou…just…please…go?” She questioned, pulling away and sure enough the girl was crying. Louis’ heart squeezed in his chest, and he knew that it was really over. He knew that he had made one of the biggest mistakes of his life as soon as he watched the girl get up. She attempted to wipe away her tears, and opened the door to her flat. Louis watched her slowly. “Please, Lou…I’m begging.”  
Louis nodded, standing up and walking over toward the girl. He leaned in to kiss her wet cheek. He noticed her physically pull back, and he sighed. He grabbed her hand, and slowly let it fall to her side again. He walked to the arc-way, and turned back around to look at her. She wasn’t attempting to smile, and the tears were starting to come faster down her face. Louis couldn’t let her like that, but she wanted nothing more than to see him walk away from her.  
“I loved you, El. I honestly did.”  
Eleanor nodded.  
“I think that you just loved Harry more,” She spoke.  
Louis didn’t dare correct her. He just nodded and ducked into the hallway. The door shut softly behind him. He watched his feet as he walked where his car was currently at. He slipped behind the wheel, and the whole situation finally hit him head on. He and Eleanor had officially broken up. He no longer had a girlfriend. She wasn’t his. He didn’t have to feel guilty about Harry anymore. He was single, and he didn’t know what to do with himself. He was able to freely think about Harry whenever he would like to now. Granted that wasn’t exactly the best thing to be thinking, but his mind wondered.

♪•§•♪

Louis made it back to his flat in one piece. He tried to prolong the drive as much as possible, but alas he arrived. He dreaded the walk into the building where the curly-haired boy was at. Louis was silently hoping that Harry had left the flat. It would make everything much easier than walking in like he had the last time with that blonde girl. He didn’t want a repeat of that, much less with a bloke this time around. He couldn’t handle that. He had enough heartbreak for the day. Seeing Harry with someone else would be the icing on the shit cake.  
But the flat was silent when he walked in. He assumed that Harry was either not there of he was in his bedroom. It didn’t matter either way, Louis decided. He just wanted to crash again, but his stomach had other ideas. Louis laughed again. He was feeling a bit like Niall. He had just eaten a little over two hours ago, but the pizza was no longer on the coffee table in the kitchen. He moved to the kitchen, and stared in the fridge. The man quickly found some slices of pizza stuck there. He got out two slices and shoved them into the microwave.  
The Doncaster boy’s mind went crazy as he watched the cheese re-melt underneath the heat. He didn’t know what was going to happen now. Eleanor wasn’t there to really restrict him with Harry. Even if the boy had been doing what he wanted with the lad anyway, he would no longer feel guilty. Louis pursed his lips together in a tight line. Maybe letting his thoughts wander wasn’t the best decision he made. He almost forgot his pizza.  
“You’re back?”  
Louis jumped and turned around to see Harry standing there. He was leaning casually again the entry way. He had his arms crossed across his chest. Louis nodded and shrugged lightly while he pulled out his pizza. He turned to sit it down on the island in the middle of their kitchen. He turned around to look at Harry, whom was still standing there like if he moved then Louis would yell at him. The older lad laughed, and shook his head.  
“You can come in here, Harry.” He stated. “You don’t have to stand there like a prat.”  
“I suppose.” Harry nodded, moving to where he was sitting opposite side. Louis was finishing his first piece when Harry picked up the other to eat. Louis rolled his eyes, figuring as much would happen as soon as he saw the boy in the flat. Harry always stole his food no matter what. The two sat in silence for a few minutes until they finished the greasy dish. “I reckoned that you were staying with Eleanor.”  
“No.” Louis sighed. “We…uh…broke up,” Louis admitted sheepishly.  
Harry looked genuinely shocked at his best mate’s confession. He didn’t say anything before he lifted up over the small island. He was so close that Louis almost stopped breathing. He didn’t understand what his best mate was doing at the moment. Louis really wanted to press that minuscule distance between them until his lips touched his. Louis never wanted to kiss anyone as much as he wanted to kiss Harry in that moment. He wanted to tangle his hands in the other male’s hair, and to tug.  
“Why is that, Louis?” Harry playfully smirked, slowly bringing his hand to cup the feather-haired boy’s cheek.  
“You, you twat,”  
And just like that Louis’ lips were tangled with Harry’s. He pressed forward as much as he could to get a better purchase on the lad across the island. Harry happily hummed into his mouth. He pulled away only long enough to get out of his seat. He somehow managed to keep their lips together as he made his way to Louis. Louis spun in his stool until Harry was pressed between his legs. The pizza was long gone from the table. Harry pressed his hands back against the older boy. He effortlessly lifted him until he was perched on the edge of the island. It wasn’t the widest area, but it would do for now, Harry assumed.

♪•§•♪

Harry left Louis panting onto of their sofa. The younger lad made his way out of the living room. Part of him expected the boy to follow him. He didn’t really know what to explain what brought the sudden sex act on. It just kind of happened. It made Harry flustered. Louis was just confused as he just stayed there, naked. He finally got the hint, and tugged up his boxers. Of course Harry didn’t top, he never did, but Louis was breathless. He needed to lie down, and sleep. He wanted to sleep for a million years if that would allow.  
The two had been very busy since Louis confirmed the break-up to Harry two days prior. He didn’t have the heart to tell his fans or band-mates. He wanted to wait until Eleanor at least had some healing time before he admitted to the world that he and his girlfriend broke up. Harry was making that wait so much easier, of course. He never really had a boring moment. Harry always kept him guessing, and rather occupied. To say that Harry was ecstatic about the break up was an understatement.  
“Lou!”  
Louis stumbled quickly to the boy’s bedroom. He entered and was slightly surprised to find Harry sitting in the middle of his king sized bed with his laptop pulled up. The older boy walked over to him, slowly climbing to sit next to him. How Harry had that much energy after sex was a mystery to him. He always wanted to take a nap instead. But here Harry was, with his computer in-between his legs, and staring intently at something.  
“What do you want, Curly?”  
Harry smirked lightly.  
“I’m just searching tumblr…”  
“I thought that we quit that?” Louis sighed, resting his head against Harry’s shoulder. Whether he realized it or not, Harry automatically scooted closer toward Louis. “Didn’t we say that we would stay out of our tag.”  
Harry pouted.  
“People are quite rude.”  
“I’ve noticed,” Louis admitted, running his hand threw Harry’s curls.  
“A lot of these fans are mean about the possible fact that we could be together and that El is a beard.”  
“I know, Harry. I did slightly introduce you to this site, if I remember correctly.”  
“You did,” Harry admitted. “Can we read some?”  
Louis wouldn’t admit it, but he agreed eagerly. He was still attached to the nasty, filthy, and emotionally draining fiction written about him and his best mate. He wanted to read more, no matter what. Harry seemed more than okay with that as he and his recent lover started to read some work together.  
That turned out to be a pretty bad idea. They only ended up attached by the mouth and panting again. Maybe that was what Harry wanted all along. Now that Louis thought about it, it made perfect sense. The younger lad wasn’t really subtle with his actions. Everything with Harry was clear. The boy wore his heart on his sleeve. Louis could read nearly every emotion that crossed those green eyes. He knew Harry better than anyone else. It had always been that way. Everything got sharper when they started to sleep together.  
It was an un-spoken term, but the pair had been with no one else. Ever since Louis came back from breaking up with Eleanor, the boys had never seen anyone else. They were almost exclusive in a way. They would go out together, doing seemingly platonic things with each other, and come back home for an nice shag. They would go out shopping for condoms, they were forever running low. The pair even decided to get a little adventurous, trying different lubes as well. The two men had filled their little basket with numerous flavors, and different types of condoms. They were forever grateful for self-check outs.  
It only got awkward when they bumped into Eleanor. The girl was buying some juice and tea when they walked right into her. Harry had been making some very sexual jokes toward his now-lover. They had just bought new lube the previous day, but decided that they wanted to try another flavor, thus coming back to the store to get the other kind. That was all that they had, leaving the basket behind. Eleanor happened to be walking by when Harry and Louis literally bumped right into her. She started apologizing quickly, but stopped short when she saw the two men giggling like fifteen-year olds. Harry had his arm casually wrapped around Louis’ shoulders, holding up the lube to him. The tall girl looked between Harry and Louis and then toward the bottle. She blushed before turning around to walk away. Louis should have expected as much; the break up was less than five days prior.  
Needless to say, the two boys bolted toward the self checkouts and back to their shared flat. By the time that they got back, the excitement had died down a lot. Louis let his mind wonder to the girl. He had been coping wonderfully with the break-up. He never really stopped to think about how the girl was handling it. From the looks of it, Eleanor looked happy. She was smiling, and she didn’t look like she had been crying. It confused Louis a little bit. He was happy that the girl wasn’t crying herself to sleep, or all that upset about it. She just looked…like Eleanor. She was never mad for long, or depressed for that mater. She was a happy person, much like Louis.  
He was shocked when he received the simple text message from the girl as soon as they got back to their flat. Harry was joking about taking a shower. He smiled and kissed the older, shorter, boy before disappearing toward the shower. Louis jokingly put the lube toward his stash in his beside table. The two had split the job of keeping their condoms and lube hidden. He added the new bottle, and sat down on his bed as his phone beeped. He furrowed his brows before pulling it out. He had an un-read message from Eleanor. He shook his head with a small laugh as he read what the girl had written. It was simple, funny, and rather surprising. He didn’t expect the message at all. He typed back a quick suggestion to get coffee the following morning before he left the phone on his bed to join his lover in the shower.

Eleanor: I’d love to be your beard. You look so happy together. xx


	3. Stella, Won't You Take Me Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 3...

Everything Changes

Louis honestly didn’t know if this could work. Sure, he was an actor first, but faking ones feelings is harder than it looks. Could he really pull off dating Eleanor whilst he was with Harry in reality? It would not be easy. As far as anyone was concerned, Louis and Eleanor were still happily together. Even if Louis did spill everything to the daddy of the band, his relationship status was seemingly the same. Louis couldn’t just drop the breakup bomb on the world right after it happened. He felt like he should have waited the proper amount of time. But Louis never got to that point because Eleanor wanted to remain friends. She was going to help him and Harry. It was a little unexpected, seeing as he had treated her so poorly before.  
A month and a bit passed quickly before their eyes. Louis and Harry were so caught up in their own little world that reality had slowly become easy to forget. They forgot that the world was watching them, as they stayed in most of the time. They forgot that soon enough they would have to go back to work and then on tour. The boys simply forgot. Harry no longer brought a no-name back to their shared flat. Since Louis’ breakup the two had been joined at the hip. Oddly enough, Harry was okay with that. He liked spending all of their free time with the older lad. He especially liked the new territory that they were exploring. It was nice; it was new. Harry felt needed by Louis. He liked to be the one to comfort him when he needed it. It was all too often that the boys would suggest going out for food or drinks. It was hard to deny the lads but it was even harder to deny this thing. Thus having Eleanor is the perfect escape.  
Harry was happy, really happy, with how everything was turning out with him and Louis. He couldn’t explain it, but something about the older boy drove him crazy. Louis was already his best mate, this was just a step up. They got to pass all of the awkwardness of a new couple, if they were to call it that, by simply being together all of the time. Louis knew Harry inside out and vice versa. There was no past to be learnt. There was no bringing them back to your flat for the first time. There were no silent pauses that made everything awkward. Harry could simply be his full-self around Louis. Louis didn’t know if he felt so much freedom from one relationship before. It was definitely new; vastly different. It didn’t make them feel very compelled to make this thing official.  
Louis and Harry weren’t boyfriends. Honestly the two weren’t exactly comfortable with the term. More importantly why did they have to have a certain term for it? Why would they label something that didn’t need one? They were having a bit of fun. They were so into each other that it didn’t matter. They were still very much Louis and Harry. They still were each other’s partners in crime. They still had little spats with each other, and nothing messed up the dynamic of the band. It a couple were to mess up the band, it would probably be Zayn and Liam. However, the established couple caused nothing of the sort. They were even months, if not weeks, away from going public.  
Per Louis’ request, when Eleanor talked about Harry to Louis, Eleanor called Harry “your boy” or “your Harry”. The term boyfriend just didn’t fit with the pair. They weren’t boyfriends and they weren’t just best friends. Maybe the established “your” went a little far, but that’s how El saw it. Harry was Louis’ whether the two men acknowledged it or not. Louis and Eleanor broke up for a reason, which reason being the curly-haired boy that was sitting a little ways in front of her with a permanent scowl on his gorgeous face. Eleanor could sense why he was so uptight at the moment. If the girl had been paying attention sooner, she would have sensed it before her and Louis were even an official couple. Harry really cared about Louis. Eleanor could see it as clear as day as if it was tattooed on Harry’s face.  
Harry wasn’t exactly open to the idea of Eleanor covering up for them. He saw what people thought, and this made them even more correct. They just assumed that it hurt Harry, but really it pissed him off. He wasn’t sad, wallowing in his pity. Harry was mad. He didn’t want the guy, his guy, to go out with someone else. Harry adored Eleanor as a person, but ever since the entire thing started happening, he came to like her less and less. Harry wasn’t her biggest fan currently, and really hasn’t been from the beginning. He didn’t like the fact that she knew so much. He didn’t like the fact that she used to date Louis. Harry damn sure didn’t like the fact that he couldn’t publically claim Louis as his. No matter how much Harry didn’t like the term boyfriend, he adored his guy. Harry Styles was straight-up, undeniable jealous of the pretty girl.  
“Okay, I think that I’m ready,” Louis stated, walking into the sitting room where Eleanor and Harry were silently sitting. “How do I look, Haz? Casual? Too dressy? Oh God, please don’t tell me that I look tacky. Do these braces go with this shirt?  
Harry rolled his eyes, standing up to walk toward his guy. He snapped a brace for fun.  
“You look wonderful, Lou-bear.” He stated, smiling at him. He temporarily forgot about Eleanor sitting there, and placed his lips to the older boys. Louis happily accepted the kiss before pulling away when Harry deepened it a little more.  
“Down tiger,” He joked. “I’ll see you in a bit, yeah? It will be like I was never gone,”  
“Somehow I doubt that I’ll see it that way,” Harry laughed, kissing his Louis again for good measure. “Have a good date, make good choices, and hurry back so that I can fuck the life out of you.”  
Louis just laughed.  
“I believe that it’s the other way around, young Hazza. Although…no…never mind. I must go now.”  
“Where are you crazy kids going?” Harry chuckled, turning toward Eleanor. She was now standing from her pervious position on the couch, and slipping on her coat.  
“Just a restaurant,” She smiled. “Don’t worry Harry, I’ll return your Louis back in one piece.”  
No matter how much he wanted to deny it, Harry’s small scowl lifted to a slight grin when she called Louis his. It wasn’t like the couple had really discussed that, but it felt nice the Eleanor understood that Louis was now his. Harry felt bad for her, he did, but he wouldn’t be able to deny that he was happier now that she was out of the picture. The situation was completely different yet all the same the last time they were all in this living room. The last time Louis was El’s, but now he was Harry’s. Before the curly-haired boy had no claim over him, not spoken of course, but instead Eleanor did. But like before, Louis was going off with Eleanor, leaving his best mate behind. That didn’t really sit well with Harry.  
However, Harry was kind of, in a weird way, alright with Louis’ date with Eleanor. It made everything easier than having to hire some poor girl from the outside world to pay girlfriend for the press. Eleanor made this much easier; cleaner. They didn’t have to tell anyone really. It wasn’t anyone else’s secret to know. They were happy within their small confines of a flat. Their love didn’t need to be broadcasted across the world. It didn’t need to be shoved in certain people’s faces. And their relationship, if again it was called that, certainly didn’t need to be shared with the boys. They were wonderful mates, brothers even, but something about telling them didn’t make the boys comfortable.  
Maybe that’s why it should have helped settle Harry’s stomach as Eleanor and Louis left. But maybe that’s also why it felt like it was ripping him apart instead.

♪•§•♪  
Harrywas a worrying mess just a few hours after Louis had left their shared flat. He knew that he shouldn’t be, but he couldn’t help it. The possessive streak that he had in him kept him on his toes. He wanted his boy to return, and he wanted him that instant. He could no longer distract himself with pointless video games or with Niall munching happily on their sofa. The Irish lad and the curly-haired boy were taking a much needed break from Fifa. Niall was kicking Harry’s arse royally. Usually Harry was very into that video game, but he couldn’t seem to give it his all. Niall blamed it on the fact that Harry was probably hungry.  
Harry definitely wasn’t hungry. As stated, he was worried. He didn’t know why. He just was. Suddenly, Harry couldn’t focus on the game, on Niall, or even on the bowl of crisps between the two of them. He was just focused on the clock, and the door. His eyes tore between the both of them, not knowing where to reside. After what felt like hours, which was really just a mere minute, Harry’s eyes went back to Niall. The boy was chatting randomly about something. Harry’s head spun as he tried to remember, or at least catch on, to what the blonde boy was saying. Niall’s lips moved, but Harry just couldn’t understand. His thoughts were honestly screaming way too loud for his liking.  
“Harry?”  
Harry’s eyes snapped back to the boy, whom now noticed his distance. Niall looked seriously concerned for him. He didn’t know what was going on in Harry’s mind. They were close, and always have been. It’s not normal for Harry just to zone out like that. Normally Harry is insightful, and gives one his full attention whilst they were communicating. This time was vastly different. Niall couldn’t keep his attention for more like five minutes, if he was lucky. Harry wasn’t even looking at him whilst he was talking. Niall noticed something was wrong the second that he stepped into the flat. He just didn’t know what was wrong.  
“Sorry…what did you say, Nialler?”  
“Are you okay?” Niall spoke slowly, putting down the remaining crisps into the bowl. “You’ve been acting odd.”  
“M’sorry,” Harry mumbled. “I haven’t meant to.”  
“Well you have,” Niall stated, staring at Harry intently. “Is there something on your mind, Haz?”  
More like someone; Harry thought. His mind went right to Louis without trying. Let’s be honest though, Harry’s mind never left the feather-haired boy with the colorful trousers and braces since he left the room. It wasn’t easy to take his mind off of the pair that walked out of their shared flat chatting up like old times. It got to Harry more than he was willing to admit. Niall could see that clearly. He knew that something or someone was bothering his best mate. Niall trusted Harry to tell him the truth. Niall was the first person, except Anne, who knew that Harry was bisexual. He came out to Niall first.  
“No… ‘course not, Nialler,” Harry easily lied.  
“Are you sure?” Niall asked.  
“Yes, you prat! Now let’s get back to Fifa.”  
Niall shrugged.  
“Actually…I have to go.” Niall announced.  
“What? Why?” Harry quickly asked, not wanting to be alone in his misery.  
“It’s getting pretty late, and M’ tired.” The Irish boy replied. “I’ll see you later though, alright? We have tour rehearsals.”  
“Yeah,” Harry nodded although he had nearly forgotten.  
Niall stood up along with Harry and wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug before he grabbed the bowl of crisps. Harry just laughed as Niall found himself out of the nearly empty flat. Harry, however, turned around and went into the kitchen. He found Louis’ favorite tea, and started to brew it. He figured that he would want some after a long night of parading around as a straight boyfriend. Harry just wanted Louis home, and he was sure that Louis wanted the exact same thing.  
Harry’s knee bounced up and down nervously as he waited for both the tea and for Louis. He couldn’t really explain why he was so nervous. It was barely ten at night, and he was acting like it was much later. It wasn’t all that late, and he should only be worried if Louis was out in London past mid-night with Eleanor. He didn’t know what the two of them had plans, but they should have been back by now. They weren’t, and that was killing Harry. It was simply driving him up the walls. It took him to sitting on his hands before he did something stupid. It wasn’t easy waiting. It was driving him mad.  
It was a bit past eleven when Louis finally returned. He looked happy, tired; but happy all the same. Harry did his best not to tackle him or bombarded Louis with questions. Instead, the curly-haired boy sat down on his hands on the sofa, and waited for the older lad to join him. Louis took his time shedding off of his coat and his TOMS. Harry sat, patient as ever, while Louis offered a small excuse to go to his room. Harry sighed, going into the kitchen to grab the two mugs of now-cold Yorkshire Tea. He made it back to the living room just in time for Louis to reappear. It made Harry smile once he saw that Louis was wearing one of his t-shirts.  
“You made tea?” Louis questioned, sitting down beside of the boy.  
Harry smiled and nodded slowly.  
“Figured that you would want some,”  
“This is wonderful, Haz.” Louis smiled and tipped back his head happily.  
“Thanks,” Harry mumbled. “So….uh…how…um…was your...d-date?” He sputtered out quickly before he lost his nerve.  
Louis rolled his eyes.  
“It was a public outing with a friend, Harold.” Louis retorted.  
“Same difference.” The younger boy mumbled before looking back up at the worn-out lad. “What did you do?”  
“We went to a dinner and a movie. Of course we got stopped a little more than I would have liked. Honestly, I don’t know why people insist on taking my fucking picture everywhere I go.”  
“This is why you’re dating Eleanor.”  
“Don’t be like that,” Louis quickly retorted before he sighed heavily. “She’s my friend.”  
“A friend that you just dumped because you slept with another friend.” Harry snorted.  
“Harry…” Louis trailed off, sitting his cup down to wrap his warms around the taller lad. “Don’t…please? Not tonight…I’m already stressed enough as it is. For the last time, you’re different than Eleanor. You always have been. You’re more than a friend, love. You know what,”  
Harry sighed, resting his forehead against Louis’ shoulder.  
“I was worried.” He stated.  
“Haz, there is nothing to be worried about! Eleanor isn’t going to try anything.”  
“I know…but…um….I…I care, Lou. I really fucking care. I was worried that you weren’t going to come back. I wanted you to come back more than anything.”  
“Harry…” Louis trailed off, cupping the bottom of Harry’s face. “Look at me, please?”  
Harry finally looked at Louis and sighed heavily.  
“Okay…”  
“I’m sorry that I spent so much time with El. I honestly miss her. We were mates first, yeah? I’m sorry that I worried you, but I wanted to be here. You have to believe that I do want to be with you instead of her. There is a reason why El is helping us,” Louis tried to reason. It was nice to get out of the flat for a little while with Eleanor. She was just as lovely as ever. Now she just kind of felt irrelevant. “This isn’t going to be easy.”  
“Maybe we should tell someone?” Harry offered up. “It’s kind of killing me, Lou. Niall was over earlier and I couldn’t even give him my full attention. I was too worried or concerned or whatever else you might call it, but he could tell that something was off. He could tell that my mind was somewhere else. At least if they knew then they would be able to understand where my head is,”  
Louis tried to smile at Harry, he did. Instead it came out as kind of a grimace. He was trying to understand Harry’s point of view. He knew that he would be worried if the roles were reversed. He didn’t really want Harry out, parading with other males or females whilst he stayed behind. It had to hurt, or piss him off. It must have made it worse that Harry felt like he couldn’t tell anyone. That alone hurt Louis. He had taken it upon himself to share his dirty little secret with Liam, but that was when he was lost and hurting. That was before his break-up, although they were technically still dating, with Eleanor. That was before Harry was actually his.  
Liam knew way too much about the couple, and Harry had no idea. It made Louis’ stomach churn to think that no one really did know that they were together. Technically speaking, Louis had no claim over Harry whatsoever. Even if the boy wanted him and they were together in private, their public lives were very different. They weren’t allowed to fully be together. Simon had power over that part of their lives. Liam and Zayn had to go, and get special permission from Simon just to be together. Louis didn’t want to go through the pain of that again. He was fine with keeping his relationship a secret.  
“I’m sorry,” The words tumbled from Louis’ lips without him realizing what he had said. It only took the older lad a minute to realize that he meant those words. He was beyond sorry that their secret was a little dangerous, and heavy. He was sorry that he spent more time than he should have with his ex-girlfriend. He was sorry that he didn’t want to put a label on them, and he was sorry that he made Harry a worrying mess when he was gone.  
“You’re sorry?”  
Harry found it amusing now too.  
“Yeah…” Louis trailed off with a sigh. “I don’t know what else to say, Harry. I honestly don’t. You and I both know that it’s a stumper when I of all people have not one off-color comment about a situation.”  
Harry mumbled but nodded in agreement. He pressed his nose a little further into his boy’s neck before placing a soft kiss there. It was light enough to send goose bumps all up Louis’ arms.  
“No need, Love.” Harry sighed before pulling away to stand up. “M’ tired. Let’s go to bed, yeah? It’s been a long night.”  
“Sure,” Louis nodded in agreement, getting up to move on with his guy into his bedroom that was slowly, seemingly becoming their bedroom.

♪•§•♪  
Beingin America was a good thing for the lads. It was nice to get away from it all. They had tons of exposure in the US, but it wasn’t like it was back home. Back home their child-hood homes weren’t safe. Back home they were able to be some-what normal. That didn’t happen in America. Everyone wanted a piece of the British-Irish boy band. The thought alone made the lads buzz with excitement. All of the interviewers asked pretty much the same queries. They knew that same things. In different cities, people knew the general information. The interviewers knew all of their names, sans Louis whom was often referred to as Lewis on more than one occasion.  
Louis and Harry didn’t like the queries about their relationship. They didn’t like the fact that people found it more-than-friendly. They used to play off of it, in fact, but since everything had changed, so did their reactions. Harry usually kept quieter than usual, playing with what bracelet his hand could get a hold of, while Louis answered the questions thrown their way. Louis talked about Eleanor, and that made Harry’s stomach flip uncomfortably. He tried over and over again to reassure himself that Louis was his now. But that didn’t really do any good.  
By the end of the second week in America, Harry had had enough. He didn’t want to hear anymore about Eleanor, so he tired his best to tune her name out. She was due to fly out in a few days to be with Louis, but that isn’t really what made him jealous. What made him jealous was the fact that Eleanor, beautiful, perfect Eleanor was sharing a hotel with Louis while he was demoted to rooming with Liam. Neither Zayn or Liam were fond of their new-found arrangements. Zayn was no longer rooming with his boyfriend, but now with Niall instead. It was really mixed up, and no one was exactly happy.  
That’s what left Harry in a drunken state, babbling over the phone to his best, and extremely close, incredibly gay friend, Nick Grimshaw. The boys decided that it would be best for them all to be settled when the brunette-haired girl arrived tomorrow night. Harry, however, wasn’t taking it too well. Again, he was rather pissed; drunk. He wasn’t one to drink too often, but tonight was an exception. He wanted to rant about his non-boyfriend and his not-girlfriend. It simply wasn’t fair that Eleanor could touch his Louis whenever she wanted.  
“M’ just saying that it’s not right,” Harry slurred as he looked onto his laptop screen at one of his best friends. Nick just shook his head, laughing lightly at the man across the world. “She’s always there! Even when she’s not, she’s just…there.” He spat.  
“Harry, mate, maybe you should be talking to Louis about this.” Nick slightly laughed.  
“I can’t!” A very drunk Harry tossed his arms up in the air. One hand still clutched desperately to the bottle of vodka he was drinking straight. Nick grimaced at the nasty liquid before shaking his head. “He loves the fucking girl.”  
“Not as much as he loves you, babes,” Nick retorted.  
Harry rolled his eyes.  
“’E doesn’t love me,” He slurred again. “He’s just looking for someone to fuck while he figures out his fucking sexuality. I mean, really does he not know by now that he’s not straight?!”  
Nick sighed heavily.  
“You need to go to bed, Harry.” He stated. “The situation will look better tomorrow. You just have to be sober before you can see that.”  
“No it won’t.” He argued stubbornly. “That’s why ‘m drinking, mate.”  
“You’re clearly smashed.” Nick sighed again. “Go on and go to bed, mate. It’s only fourteen days into the tour, right? It has to get better. You’ve been drunk for the last three nights. That’s not even legal there.”  
“Shut up,” Harry muttered.  
“Goodnight, tosser.” Nick playfully winked before disconnecting his video chat.  
Harry haphazardly tossed his laptop onto the empty bed. He didn’t like thinking. He wanted his brain to just turn off for one night, that’s why he was drinking so much. He didn’t want to hear the second guessing, and the negativity. He just wanted to be with Louis and that was that. Harry took another, rather large, gulp of the bottle. He tipped it back until it was starting dry out. There was nothing left at the bottom of the bottle to drink, leaving Harry more irritated than he would have liked to admit.  
Liam entered not long after that to a pissed Harry Styles drinking a beer and singing lazily in their bathroom floor of the hotel room. Liam furrowed his brows in worry as he watched Harry sing some old song that he didn’t recognize. He tried to shake Harry out of it, but instead Harry shook his head. Harry didn’t want to be brought back down to the world. He wanted to stay suspended. He wanted to remain weightless for as long as he could. He was content on not thinking, drinking, and singing loudly in the bathroom floor. Oddly enough, that made him happy.  
“Harry, what in the world are you doing?” Liam asked him carefully, but Harry just smiled and continued to sing. “How did you get so smashed?”  
“Two…am, I’m on a blackout binge again,”  
“Harry?”  
“You know that I don’t need sleep and I lost my keys, but I’ve got so many friends!”  
Liam sighed, completely aggravated with his curly-haired friend.  
“Dammit, Harry! It’s barely eleven at night, and you’re this drunk?”  
“And he keeps, keeps me coming back for more. Another night, another score…I’m fading, bottles breaking.”  
“For the love of God,” Liam shook his head sending a quick, irrated text message to Louis. “I don’t know what had gotten into you, but I don’t like it one bit.”  
“Stella did,” Harry winked, holding up the bottle of Stella. “She’s really good too. Better than sex,”  
“You’re a bloody idiot.” Liam huffed, hearing a knock on the door. He left Harry in the bathroom whilst he went to answer the door. Harry, tipped back the bottle again, resuming his singing that he was doing before.  
“You’re only happy when I’m wasted. I point my finger but I just can’t place it.” As Harry sang the line, Louis came into his blurred vision, and he tried his best to point at the man. “Feels like I’m falling in love when I’m falling to the bathroom floor! I remember how you tasted. I’ve had you so many times, lets face it. Feels like I’m falling in love alone, Stella won’t you take me home!”  
“Haz…” Louis trailed off with a disappointed sigh. “Come on, get off of the floor. You’re a proper mess.”  
“One more reason that I should have never have met you, just another reason that I could never forget you. Down we go, the room’s spinning out of control.”  
“Harry, please stop.” Louis begged.  
Liam crossed his arms tightly over his chest.  
“I didn’t know what else to do with him.  
“Loose myself in a chemical moment. Night life is taking it’s toll, that’s just the way that it goes….Stella won’t you take me-”  
Harry’s words were cut short when he abruptly started laughing. He usually wasn’t this messy of a drunk. He was usually careful with what he drank, but that was thrown out of the window earlier that evening. One drink led to way more than he wanted in his system, except Harry slowly began not to care. It hurt Louis to see someone that he cared so much about to messed up right in front of him. It scared Louis that Liam didn’t know how to handle it. Louis surely couldn’t do anything different.  
“Harry, please, get up. You need to get to bed.”  
Harry laughed but stood up all of the same. He was only a little shaky, which was lucky considering the state that he was currently in.  
“I’m fine,” Harry stated. “I’ve got Stella to sooth my broken heart.” He stated before giggling again.  
“Broken heart?” Louis questioned. “What are you talking about?”  
“Don’t act like you don’t know.” Harry spat back.  
“I honestly don’t.” Louis admitted.  
“The straight guy act!” Harry nearly yelled. “Eleanor, all of it!”  
“Harry, that’s rude,” Louis interrupted.  
“No, it’s not.” He shook his head slightly. “It’s not fair to me, Louis.”  
“Harry…you know that this is-“  
“Don’t even go there!” Harry interrupted his time. “You fucked me, Louis. You left Eleanor for me. You are mine! It’s not bloody, fucking fair to me that you’re flying in you’re fake girlfriend so that you can pretend to be straight for the public! It’s not right that I have to sit back and watch you be with someone that isn’t me. How do you think that makes me feel, Boo? It’s not fair, and it’s tearing me the hell apart.” Harry was breathing hard. He was crying, and the bottle of Stella was left, partly forgotten about on the counter.  
“You think that this is easy for me too?” Louis questioned. He looked hurt, but no where near close as to what Harry looked like. “You honestly think that this isn’t hurting me?”  
“You’re acting like it isn’t!”  
“It is, Harry!” Louis shouted back. “It’s not easy being with Eleanor in public, or in general. She’s my friend still! We may have been together, but dammit, I left her for you! You know that I care about you, Harry! It’s not okay for you to bottle things up like that! It’s not healthy for two people in a relationship.”  
Harry barked out a laugh.  
“Oh, that’s rich,” He rolled his eyes. “So now we’re in a relationship are we?”  
“You know that we have been,” Louis stated, looking confused and sad at the same time. “You’re my Harry.”  
“You can’t even say the word,” The angry and drunken boy shook his head. He seemed surprisingly sober. “It’s not that hard,”  
“Harry…” Louis warned.  
“Come on, Louis just say it. All you have to do is say it once. For fucking once take some charge and tell me what I know you want to say. Stop beating around the bush. We’re more than friends. We always have been in some weird way. I need a label,”  
“Since when do you care about labels?” Louis spoke, the shaking in his voice was very apparent.  
“Since you started having a problem with them,” Harry snapped back. “It’s just one word, Lou. Just say it. We already know what we are to each other. I’m your bloody boyfriend. It’s not that hard to admit.”  
“Why?”  
“Because you’re too scared to admit how you really feel,”  
“I’ve been fucking you, haven’t I?” Louis snapped back, getting some sass back into his voice. “Come on, babe. Let’s just go back to our hotel room, and sleep it off.”  
Harry snorted and shook his head.  
“Say it.”  
“You’re my boyfriend.” Louis finally admitted with a low voice. He wasn’t as loud as Harry would have liked, but he said it all the same. “Come on now, love. Why are you being like this?”  
“Because I’m jealous,” Harry admitted. “Eleanor is a girl. You can kiss her, hold her hand, and go on dates with her publically. We can’t do any of that stuff! We’ve been here for two weeks, and she’s already flying in via Modest Management. You can show her off to all of your friends and the world, but what can we do? We could just stare, or slightly tease. We can jokingly admit that we’re dating, but not admit the real thing. We can give each other hugs as long as we don’t hold on for too long. I don’t like feeling this way, Lou. I hate it.”  
“It’s not a good feeling at all. I’ve tried to keep myself from getting jealous or protective, but I can’t help it anymore. Now she’s coming in, and I don’t know how to handle it. We’re not official, and you hate labels, but we’re still together. It’s confusing for me, Boo. It’s breaking me apart.” He stated.  
“I’m so…so sorry, love.” Louis stepped forward.  
“Don’t,”  
“What can I do?”  
“Nothing right now, ‘m too smashed.” Harry mumbled. “Oh and by the way, babe, Happy two month anniversary.”  
Harry promptly turned toward the toilet in enough time to spew his contents into the bowl.


	4. ZaynandLiam and HarryandLouis...then there's Niall.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Louis are a lot in love. Also, Ziam feels, and Niall is forever alone...kind of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final part....I think :) Enjoy!
> 
> xo Rae

“I never really apologized for that night,” Harry admitted out-loud as he cuddled up to Louis on one of their beds within their hotel room.  
Louis simply laughed and tightened his hold he has on the younger lad. He loved when Harry is a bit slow in realizing something. It’s endearing, well to Louis. Everyone else found it annoying from time to time. It’s not that Harry’s dumb…he can just be quite the blond when he wants to be. Louis has gotten used to it though. It’s been nearly three years since One Direction have been a band. It’s been six and a bit months since Louis and Harry started this thing, only four of them actually being a couple. It’s been three months since Harry’s very drunken, _very_  ridiculous break-down in front of Liam. To this day, four and a bit months later, Liam Payne is still the only human being that knows Eleanor is a beard and the boys are dating.  
It’s hard to keep up the act, but the boys don’t want what they have to ruin. This is for certain. Harry was all torn to bits the last time that he broke down. But Louis was there, as always, to help. The older man was there to pick up the pieces that made Harry Styles who he was. He really was nothing without Louis, as Harry was convinced. Louis thought the world of his boyfriend no matter what happened between them. They have always been comfortable around each other enough to show their insecurities.  
“You don’t have to apologize anymore, Hazhead. You had every right to be upset with me,”  
“Not really,” Harry sighed, curling further into him.  
“Shut up,” Louis playfully snapped. “I love you, yeah? That’s all that matters,” He stated, running a hand through the wild curls.  
“I love you too, Boo Bear,” Harry muttered softly. “I can’t believe that we’ve already been _together_  for half a year.”  
“Don’t sound so shocked,”  
“I kinda am,” Harry admitted, picking his head up to look at Louis. Even though Harry was taller than Louis, he loved being cuddled and feeling small in his boyfriend’s arms. “I didn’t know what to think of everything that was happening with us, but I like it. I like…love you.”  
“I know,” Louis smiled softly before pressing a slow kiss into Harry’s lips.  
“When do you reckon that we tell the lads?” He questioned.  
“Whenever we feel like we’re not going to crumble anymore.”  
“Lou…”  
“I’m being serious, babe.” Louis sighed. “I don’t want this to be temporary. We’re going to have to last, if not for us, but for the band and our fans as well.”  
“No matter what happens between the two of us, I’ll always love you.”  
“You sap.”  
“Maybe,” Harry smiled, letting a small smirk play on his lips as a hand started to trail dangerously close to Louis’ crotch.  
“You cheeky basterd!”  
“Don’t pretend like you don’t want it.”  
“True.” He shrugged, cupping Harry’s face to bring him in for a proper kiss. “Just not when we’re talking,”  
“I don’t think you’re opposing,” Harry stayed, wiggling his fingers right under the waistband of Louis’ trousers.  
“Harold,” Louis sighed, grabbing his boyfriends hand up and lacing his hand with it. “This isn’t the time for you to try to seduce me,”  
“But _Louis_ ,” He whined. “I haven’t been properly fucked in three days. I’m a little upset.”  
“You boy,” Louis rolled his eyes again, pecking Harry’s nose softly. “Can’t you just enjoy this moment with me?”  
“I can, but I don’t think that you realize how fucking fit you are,” Harry began. “Like…those trousers….dammit Louis, I’m practically _salivating_  just lying next to you,”  
“Okay, okay,” Louis laughed, pressing his lips to Harry’s slowly. “I love you, you git.”  
And Harry’s green eyes sparkled, freaking sparkled, when Louis said those words. It scared Louis. It scared the hell out of him that Harry would even think about looking at him like that. Louis could honestly go on, and on about how Harry looks at him. He certainly had gotten more aware of the green eyes following his every move since they have been together. It scared the hell out of Louis that Harry looked at him like he could do anything in the world. He looked at him like he was his favorite person in the world.  
“I love you, Lou…so much,” Harry whispered before promptly curling into his chest. Harry nuzzled into his favorite spot, and made Louis’ chest swell with love. Kitty Harry was his personal favorite. He just cuddle, and Louis swore that the boy even tended to purr. It really wouldn’t have surprised him if he did.  
“Soon, Harry,” Louis whispered back a promise that he wasn’t sure he could actually be able to keep.

 

§•§•§

 

“Onward my Irish Kumquat!” Louis yelled as he wrapped his legs tighter around Niall’s waist. Niall was running around the corridors after another successful show on the Take Me Home Tour. Beside them, Harry ran laughing too. He was also enjoying them just being ridiculous. However, he was more so enjoying the fact that Louis just had so much energy. He rather enjoyed when he acts like a child. Even if Louis is the oldest, he’s definitely not the most mature. Niall just laughed, being hyped up on post-concert high. It was worth it, honestly. It was moments like these, no matter the hectic schedule may be, that are worth it all.  
The trio rounded the corner, and headed toward their green room. They were completely ready to go out, get pissed, and just enjoy each other’s company. They have had this night out planned for quite some time. They just needed to get out just for a little bit. Louis and Harry have practically been spending all of their time together, leaving the other three to hang out. This is how it has always been, but now they are very much aware of it. It almost seems like they’ve always blown off the other band mates without realizing that they were actually blowing them off. Sure, it made them realize this, but it didn’t stop them from spending so much time together.  
They didn’t think anything of it. Honestly, Niall, Louis, and Harry didn’t really expect what they saw when they got to the green room. The three boys stood frozen inside of the green room, not far from the couch at all, but not far from the door either. It was like in a span of ten seconds, Niall dropped Louis from his back. Harry helped his boyfriend back up, keeping a hold of his hand. They just all gaped at what was going on in front of them. They didn’t know how else to react. They really didn’t know how to react because just mere ten feet in front of them were Liam and Zayn.  
They walked in right as Liam was coming. In Zayn’s mouth. As Zayn deep throated Liam. Liam’s sinfully tight skinny jeans and pants were around his calves. His shirt was off, showing his perfectly toned body. He was sitting on the couch, one hand gripped Zayn’s hair tightly and the other thrown over his eyes. Liam was moaning like a porn star. Zayn was acting rather similar to one in return. One of his hands was gripping Liam’s thigh tightly. Zayn in return was only in his pants, his own hand down them tugging at his own member. They were like that when the other three lads walked in. They stood there while Liam went from making _noises_  to cursing like a sailor. It was a different sight.  
It felt like ages, but everything actually only happened within a minute or less: Liam coming undone, Zayn working on himself until he came right after him, Niall dropping Louis and just staring. Harry gripping Louis up off of the floor, and then Zayn and Liam realized that they weren’t alone. It was a breaking point for the five members of One Direction. Everything flashed before their eyes. Liam rushed as fast as he could to pull up his pants and skinny jeans. Zayn mimicked his boyfriend’s direction. Liam looked different. He was all star-y eyed, and sweat building on his chest and toned torso.  
Zayn stood up beside Liam, gripping his hand right hand tightly in both of his hands. He knew that Liam was beyond embarrassed about what the other lads just saw. Liam is quite the sex addict, but he would prefer if the other lads didn’t know that about him. Zayn really liked that about his boyfriend, so he knew what was probably going through Liam’s mind at the moment.  
Niall was the first to speak.  
“I…uh….sorry,” He mumbled, turning around quickly. “Sorry,” he called over his shoulder, only to walk into the door frame. The Irish lad turned red before properly making it out of the door. He closed it behind him, which kind of made Harry laugh. Did Niall really expect them to all stand around and talk about it.  
“I’m a little…” Liam covered his face with his hand. “Fuck, I’m sorry,”  
“Liam Payne, you little minx,” Louis laughed. “You’re a proper bed whore,”  
“Lou…” Harry warned, lacing his hand with is boyfriends.  
“Shut up, Louis.” Liam sighed, sitting back down on the couch with his hand still in both of Zayn’s.  
“He’s great,” Zayn smiled with fondness all over his face. “Absolutely brilliant,”  
“ _Zayn_ ,” Liam warned.  
“It’s Harry and Louis,”  
“So?”  
“We’re dudes and we like sex. I’m sure they can tell us about their sex live,”  
Liam’s eyes went wide, staring at Zayn.  
“What?” Louis asked. “Liam…”  
“Shit,” Zayn sighed. “You didn’t know that I knew,” He added, and it wasn’t a question. Zayn knew in that moment that he wasn’t supposed to know that Harry and Louis were suddenly HarryandLouis.  
“We didn’t,” Harry comment, gripping Louis’ hand tighter. “We were going to tell you guys soon.”  
“Yeah,” Louis barely agreed.  
“I’m sorry, Lou,” Liam stated, looking at no one else but him. “He’s…he’s my boyfriend.”  
“So you had to tell him just because you’re fucking?” Louis snapped.  
“It’s not like that, Louis.” Zayn stated. “We don’t have secrets. I’ve known for months now. I’m sorry, but you don’t get to be mad at Liam. You can’t expect him to carry a secret like that,”  
Louis looked between the two of them, took a glance at Harry and then promptly turned around and walked around from the three other lads standing there. Once Louis was gone, Harry looked after him, and then back to Zayn and Liam. His face was red with embarrassment.  
“I’m so sorry,” He stated before turning around and walking away from the two boys who just looked a little too happy given the situation.

 

§•§•§

 

“It was weird seeing Liam and Zayn in that situation, don’t you think?” Harry asked Louis as they got dressed for the night out inside of their hotel room. Harry was putting on those stupidly, tight jeans with the leather knee pads in them. He pulled a black v-neck of his tattooed body, and sprayed whatever the hell it is that makes him smell so delicious. Louis, however, pulled on a band t-shirt, tight jeans and some vans. He was feeling like dressing down.  
“Yeah,” Louis stated, looking down at his jeans. “Do these jeans make my arse look huge?”  
“Your arse is huge,” Harry broke off the conversation. “Seriously though, Lou,”  
“I’m trying not to think about it, to be honest.”  
“Why?”  
“Jesus, Harry,” Louis whipped around. “It’s not every day that we see two of our best mates like that. It was like watching porn.”  
And suddenly Harry was just mere inches from Louis face, bending down to whisper in his ear.  
“Did you like it?”  
“Harry,” Louis warned.  
“Did you, Lou?” He whispered. “Did you imagine that it was _me_  on my knees, making you scream like that?”  
“Harry,” Louis warned again, taking a step back from Harry. “We can talk about this later,”  
Harry smirked as he walked into their bathroom. Harry was right, Louis was totally hot and bothered by earlier. He was hot and bothered by _ZaynandLiam_. That’s…that was something completely different, yet Harry was totally okay with it. He didn’t mind, his mates were hot. Harry was also a little bit more shameless than Louis was. Harry was okay admitting that seeing his friends like that did a little more for him than just shock him.  
By the time they got to the club, Zayn, Liam and Niall were already there. Of course the Irish fucker already had a pint in hand, drinking it all up. Zayn was laughing loudly, and Liam had his arm draped around the older lad. It was weird that Liam was the dominate one in their relationship. Louis could tell that it was Liam who topped. Hell, Harry agreed. Zayn was the bad boy of the band, but one smolder from Liam made him an fourteen-year old girl. There was no way that the older male was the top. Liam was just built for it, unlike Zayn. But those aside, it doesn’t really look all that right with Liam being the puppy. He had huge, puppy eyes, and couldn’t hurt someone’s feelings without feeling bad.  
“Hello boys,” Louis stated, sliding in beside Niall. Harry sat down on the edge, really close to Louis. “Have you lot ordered?”  
“Zayn put in our order, yeah,”  
“Harry….” Louis trailed off, looking up at his gorgeous boyfriend.  
Harry smiled widely, bending down to press a light kiss on Louis lips.  
“Be right back, babe.” He stated before walking toward the bar a little sexier than needed.  
His whole existence was to kill Louis, as Louis was convinced.  
“Are you fucking kidding me!”  
Louis practically jumped turning toward Niall.  
“What?”  
“What the actual fuck, mate?” Niall asked. “Since when have you and Harry been _HarryandLouis_?”  
“For a while now,” Louis sighed. “There’s no point in denying it now,”  
“What about El?” Niall furrowed his brows. “Fuck, Lou…you can’t treat her like that. She’s a proper charmer. She doesn’t deserve that.”  
“She knows, Niall. We broke up six months ago,”  
“What the fu-.”  
Harry chose that moment to return with a Sex On The Beach for Louis and a rum and Coke for him.  
“Miss me?” Harry playfully stated, winking at the other lads before wrapping his arm tightly around Louis.”  
“Course, babe,” Louis commented, pulling Harry in for a kiss that lasted way longer than he intended. “I love you,”  
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Niall mumbled. “Oi! Get off of ‘im.” He stated, elbowing Louis.  
“What, Ni?” Louis sighed, looking over at him.  
“We’re in public, dumbarse.”  
“So?”  
“People do recognize us these days.”  
“Right.” Louis sighed, looking back over at Harry. “Want to dance?”  
Harry laughed, shaking his head.  
“I don’t dance, baby. You know that,”  
“Then move the fuck over and lemme out there,”  
“Me too,” Niall stated.  
“Okay,” Harry stated, reluctantly moving away from Louis to let them both out. Louis sent him a flirty wink before following Niall, drink in hand, out on the dance floor with crowded bodies.  
“He seems happy,” Zayn commented.  
The curly-haired boy blushed.  
“He’s really relaxed. I don’t know why, because he’s paranoid as fuck usually.”  
“He kissed you in public, Harry,” Liam smiled. “I think he’s coming around,”  
“I know,” Harry’s smile widened. “Do you think that if we ask Simon, we could come out?”  
“I wouldn’t push him,” Zayn added. “We all know how Louis is. From what Liam has told me, he was a little cautious on actually making you his boyfriend.”  
“Yeah,” Harry nodded, drinking down way more than he probably should in one go. “He was,”  
“At least he’s growing some balls,”  
“Yeah,” He laughed again.  
“I need another drink,” Liam stated. “Zayn…”  
“Fine,” Zayn stated, pressing his mouth hard to Liam’s. “I love you,”  
“I love you. Now go,” He stated, and as Zayn got out of the booth, he smack his arse playfully. ZAyn turned around and gave a pseudo-glare at him. Liam just winked and blew a kiss in return.  
“I never thought I’d see you this shameless,” Harry admitted. “But, Cheers mate,”  
“Thanks,” Liam almost blushed, almost. He was getting so much better than he used to be. Zayn has really worked at bringing him out of his shell. “I love him a hell of a lot.”  
“Good,” Harry smiled.  
It wasn’t long before Niall returned for another pint. However, he wasn’t dragging a caramel haired boy behind him.  
“Where’s Lou?”  
“Dancing with some bird,” Niall shrugged.  
“Okay… and why did you leave him?”  
“He wanted to dance? Gees, Haz.”  
“I think…that I’m not drunk enough for this,” He stated before downing another drink that was just sitting there for when he was done. He got down all in one go, and then Harry was on his feet.  
“What do you think he’s going to do?”  
“This may end badly,” Zayn sighed. “Let’s go dance, Lee.”  
“Okay,” Liam nodded, getting up and following his boyfriend close behind.  
They left Niall at the table, alone, with a pint. He playfully cheered himself before moving toward the bar to chat up whichever fit girl he would find. Niall found himself a brunette that he was quickly fond over. He cracked out his best jokes, and his best smile. She laughed at him, and told him a few of her own. Honestly, it was one of the best nights that he and the lads have had out thus far.  
Harry found Louis pressed up against some slaggy-looking blonde. He felt his temper rage as he moved toward them. On his way there, he picked up a dyed-red head that was pretty fucking fit if he was honest. He grinding with her, but kept his eyes on his boyfriend whom was just feet away. Louis was now very aware of Harry and just what Harry was doing. Him and his girl moved closer to his boyfriend and the slag he was grinding on. Somewhere out of the corner of his eye, he could see Liam and Zayn stop dancing and start watching them.  
Louis’ hands gripped the blonde’s hips. Harry dipped his fingers right under the redhead’s shirt. Louis, being the possessive prick, gripped her tighter and grinded slower just like how Harry liked him to. Harry, bent down and whispered into the redhead ear. She smiled, turning around to face him. Harry gripped her arse and pulled her closer to him. She was so close to him that Harry couldn’t be seen from Louis’ angle, and that was enough to piss him off even more. He gripped the blonde tighter and Harry saw. All of the sudden the redhead was out of the way, and Harry was walking toward Louis and the girl.  
“Move,”  
“Excuse me,” The blonde asked, looking at Harry.  
“I said, move.” Harry demanded. “Get the fuck away from my boyfriend.”  
The blondes face turned red from embarrassment and Louis’ hands dropped from her waist. As quickly as she could, she got out of the way to stand next to the redhead.  
“Harry…”  
“Don’t you _ever_  fucking do that again,” Harry growled, gripping Louis’ face so tight that it almost hurt. He pressed his mouth tightly to his boyfriends. His hands left Louis’ face, and gripped his arse to bring them tighter together. Louis moan at the contact. The fact that mad Harry made him so hot and bothered so fast probably should have been a warning. Louis wanted nothing more than to fuck the boy up against any surface that he could. His jeans were suddenly getting way too tight. They were kissing and they were grinding, and well, Harry was pretty sure someone was videoing them. It wouldn’t come as a shock if they did.  
“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Louis panted, tugging on one of Harry’s curls. Harry nodded in agreement, lacing his fingers through Louis’ free hand. On their way out, they nodded toward Zayn and Liam. The other couple smiled, and gave them the okay. They waved to Niall before leaving the other three there. Oddly enough, there weren’t any paps yet. They made it almost all of the way to their hotel before they realized that they had been followed. They also realized that Harry hadn’t let go of Louis’ hand the entire time. Somehow they were able to call Paul, whom was very angry because he _thought_  the band was in their hotel room. He got them into the back door, and lead them back up to their room. Paul didn’t leave until he commented on their PDA.  
“I hope for both of your sakes that you know what in the hell you’re doing,” He hugged them both before walking away to leave the young couple in privacy.  
Harry and Louis made it into their hotel room, and then all of their clothes just magically fell off their bodies. Everything was rushed. They enjoyed it, but that wasn’t making love. They were truly fucking each other for the first time they were together. It was fast and hard, and Harry came without him or Louis even touching him. He didn’t have time to be embarrassed before Louis came a minute, if not seconds, after him. They cleaned themselves up and cuddled for the rest of the night. It wasn’t spoken, but they both were incredibly happy. It was a far cry from where they were just a few short months ago. They didn’t care anymore, and that was probably what took so much pressure off of them from.

 

§•§•§

 

When Harry and Louis woke up, they were trending on twitter. Of course, Harry broke out tumblr and saw that someone had started spreading the fact that Harry and Louis were out together the previous night. They knew that it was only going to be a matter of days, if not hours, that the rumors were going to be spread. With their management, they wouldn’t try as hard to stop it. They finally got to the point where they barely tried anymore. They weren’t the best at covering things up, especially the obvious things.  
They were right, though. It only took days before the news spread, and articles were printed. Then more articles were printed the second week with more “sources” than before. It only took two full weeks before pictures surfaces that weren’t crap quality of Harry and Louis snogging each other on the dance floor, kissing in the booth, and holding hands as they walked back to the hotel. It was rather obvious now. Eleanor was asked for comments, and her comment was;  
 _“I’m obviously very happy for them. I’m aware that they haven’t chosen to comment yet, but on my behalf, I congradulate them. They’re perfect together, honest.”_  
 _“You aren’t upset that your boyfriend was publically cheating on you?” The interviewer asked._  
 _“Louis wasn’t been my boyfriend for a long time. We just stayed close after the break up. It was really healthy,”_  
Simon didn’t have much to say, considering he already knew about the pair. And well, the boys were going to get permission to come out anyway. It was only a matter of time before it happened. It just didn’t happen how they really wanted it to.  
Neither Harry or Louis made a statement release about them dating. Simon, for once, left it up to them to determine how they handled the situation. Louis let it go, he was too happy to care. This simply made Harry that much happier. Pride swelled up in him because Louis wasn’t ashamed of him anymore. He was happy, and he didn’t care who knew. It really did surprise him when Louis retweeted a photo of them snogging at the club. He added a heart with it.

**HarryStyles: So incredibly happy. I loveeeeeee @LouisTomlinson**

**LouisTomlinson: @HarryStyles don’t get so mushy….I love you too. <3**

 

And if anyone doubted anything after that, Louis posting ridiculous pictures of Harry asleep, him getting a tattoo with Harry, and kissing Harry…well that was their problem, not theirs.


End file.
